Outline the Main Contrasts of Functionalist and Critical Sociological Perspectives and Provide an Example to Illustrate Their Contrasted Approaches to Examining Society

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Criticisms of functionalism focus on its acceptance and rationalization of social inequality and societal evils. Since functionalism holds that all aspects of society are necessary, human rights issues like poverty, hunger, slavery, and genocide must be accounted for. Critics suggest that functionalism can be used as a rationalization of such issues. The perspective is also criticized for its lack of testability, which is critical for the upholding of any social science theory. Several questions stand against its reliability. Functionalism could be described as the most generalized and ineffective of the sociological schools. It is not logically in synch with variability between cultures and it cannot effectively explain change. Still, it has its strong points, such as its ability to explain crime and deviance. Functionalism essentially serves as the most conservative of the sociological schools of thought. Classical functionalist theory did not develop specific analyses of race and ethnicity; it viewed them as constituent elements of society that contributed to its relatively smooth functioning. Since the functionalist perspective emphasizes social equilibrium, it does not account for issues such as power inequalities and racial conflict, nor for the social construction of race and identity formation. Since structural functionalism generally stresses the unifying role of culture, it is ill-equipped to understand divisive forces like discrimination. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole. Additionally, this approach looks at both social structure and social functions. In general, the functionalist perspective views society as a complex system and focuses on different phenomena's contributions to social solidarity and stability. Classic structural functionalism

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